In: Economics
Freda consumes two goods, spinach (s) and chocolate turtles (t). Her utility from the consumption of these two goods is given by u(s,t)=10st. The price of spinach is $1, the price of turtles is $1, and Freda has $1200.00 to spend on these two goods.
In the questions below, give all your answers to two decimal places.
t Part 1 (2 points)See Hint Given the initial prices and income, Freda's optimal consumption bundle is composed of 600 units of s and 600 units of t .
Part 2 (2 points)See Hint Now suppose a tax of $1.00 is imposed on chocolate turtles. For simplicity, assume that the entire $1.00 tax is passed on to consumers so that the new price of chocolate turtles is $2.00. This means that Freda's optimal bundle, after the tax is imposed, is units of s and units of t .
Part 3 (3 points)See Hint Now suppose that Freda receives a rebate equal to the amount of tax that she pays. This rebate will increase her income from $1200.00 to $ . If Freda readjusts her consumption bundle, she will now demand units of s and units of t .
Part 4 (2 points)See Hint Let's explore the utility implications of this tax rebate. Given her original optimal bundle, Freda's initial utility was . After the tax is imposed, but then the amount she paid in tax is rebated back to her, Freda's utility is